A Star Wars Trading Card Community

Topps Star Wars Finest Cards (1996)

The Star Wars Finest cards was one of the earliest modern sets released roughly 10 years after the release of Return of the Jedi, and a few years prior to the release of the first prequel. In addition to the base set and the chase cards, there was an additional parallel set of refractor cards, identified easily by a gold colored character on the reverse side. Dedicated collectors are still trying to hunt down parallel cards to complete their rare refractor sets.

One aspect I find appealing about this set is the absence of a border. Anyone attempting to complete sets prior (and even after) the Star Wars Finest set knows all too well the high volume of OC (off-center) cards. In many cases both the front and back of the card have a border thus doubling your chances of getting stuck with a number of OC cards. The volume of OC cards throughout the Topps Star Wars market is so large that many collectors simply ignore that aspect of the card.

During this same period of time, the Star Wars Galaxies Magazine released 4 Topps Finest cards along with their publication. Though these cards were not officially part of the Finest set, most collectors considered them to be chase cards for the set.

Base Cards: (90)

Refractor Parallel Cards: (1:12)

Embossed Foil Cards: (6) (1:9)

Matrix Inserts: (4) (1:12)

Promo Cards: (3)

Redemption Card: (1) (1:360)

SWGM Chase Cards: (4)

Also of note to some collectors, was the inclusion of a Matrix Redemtion card that appeared as random inserts. In all cases, these redemption cards are more rare than the cards themselves and often fetch a much higher premium than any other single card in the set, including the refractors.

To compare: a Matrix card had an appearance chance of 1:12 packs yet the redemption card had an appearance chance of 1:360 packs. Or another way of looking at it, this card appeared in 1:10 boxes with each box holding 36 packs of 5 cards each. This makes that single card worth more than the current price of a sealed box.